


Hero

by Thephantominthemists



Series: Hero [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 12:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8845714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thephantominthemists/pseuds/Thephantominthemists
Summary: Leonard Snart says he is no hero. But there was one time he was and one person who thinks he is.





	1. chapter 1

_“Third shift is so boring!”_ I thought to myself as I sat in the security room with my partner, Sean, watching the cameras and counting down the hours until I got to go home.

_“Just three and a half more hours,”_ I thought as I stretched in my seat.

“Mary,” my partner called bringing my attention back to the monitors, “There is an alarm on the west side door.”

Looking at the specific camera, I watched almost in disbelief as three armed men entered the building. At that moment I felt nothing but dread and wished, not for the first time, that I was not the supervisor on shift. We were a call center for a private banking firm with access to a lot of private information, but since this was a secure building the only armed guards were outside. My partner and I were only allowed to carry pepper spray and seeing as it was third shift we were the only guards inside. Since these men had made it inside, I knew the guards outside were going to be no help.

“Evacuate the associates from the east side of the building and activate the silent alarm,” I ordered my partner.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

“I have to get anyone on the west side out,” I replied.

He looked like he was going to argue, but I was supervisor and it was my call. I was significantly younger and faster than him so I stood a better chance of running away if I had to, I was also smaller so if I had to hide I could fit in places he couldn’t.

“Good luck,” he said before hitting the small button under the desk, grabbing a radio and earpiece, and then jogged out the door.

I grabbed my own radio and earpiece, then ran as quietly as I could to the west side of the building, quietly ordering anyone I met to leave the building and praying that I did not come face to face with our unexpected visitors.

“Everyone on the east side is out,” Sean’s said over the radio some minutes later.

“Good,” I replied, “Looks like everyone is out over here. I am about…”

“Well look what we have here,” said a voice behind me, “A rent-a-cop.”

I turned around and came face to face with a man holding a pistol. He was slightly taller than me with straggly, shoulder length, dirty blond hair, brown eyes and looked like he had not taken a bath in a while. I glared at him, as I hated the term “Rent-a-Cop.”

“Snart! Jameson!” he called and two more men came around the corner, “Look what I found.”

One of the men was short and fat, with thinning black hair, brown eyes and carrying another small pistol. The other was the tallest of the three, leaner, with severely short dark hair, liberally sprinkled with gray. He was carrying a large, strange looking black gun and had goggles hanging around his neck. Stranger still he was wearing a parka… in the middle of JUNE!

“Well, well, Samson,” the fat man leered, “You found us a toy to play with.”

I felt fear run down my spine at his words.

“No,” the man wearing the parka snapped, glaring at the other two men.

“Well, what do you expect us to do with her,” the man called Samson sneered, “Let her go?”

The man wearing the parka just glared coldly at Samson before answering.

“Tie her up and stuff her in a closet,” he snapped before turning and walking away.

“You know, Snart,” Samson yelled turning to follow him as Jameson neared me, “Your rules are going to get you killed one day!”

Seeing the other two walk away, I waited until Jameson got close before pulling out my pepper spray and sprayed him in the face then kneed him in the groin. Jameson yelled and dropped to his knees and I took off running. I made it down the hall and around the corner before I heard the sound of pursuit. Looking over my shoulder I caught the sight of Samson and the man they had called Snart coming down the hall after me. Samson was cussing at me but Snart just look coldly furious, seeing them encouraging me to run faster. I slid around a corner, my feet momentarily coming out from under me, causing me to put my hands down on the floor as my feet caught up. I blindly turned another corner before I realized it dead ended at a closed door. Praying it was not locked; I ran to it and pressed down on the latch. Just as I started to push the door open, I heard a yell behind me and turned. That was when I heard the gunshot. The bullet tore into my left shoulder and I screamed as the momentum pushed me through the open door. Clutching my shoulder in agony I quickly kicked the door closed and managed to crawl over and lock the handle. Sitting back on my heels, hunched over and holding my shoulder in pain, I sat there panting when suddenly there came a loud thump against the other side of the door. Knowing that the lock would not hold, and running on fear and adrenaline, I forced myself back to my feet and ran to the door at the other side of the small room.

“Sean!” I yelled into the earpiece of my radio as I exited the room, “Sean do you copy?”

“Yes, Mary, I copy,” his voice crackled back over the radio, “Where are you?”

“I’m at the back of the building,” I answered, continuing to try and get away before the intruders found me again, “Please tell me the cops are almost here. I’ve been shot!”

“The cops are not here yet,” Sean answered back, causing me to groan, “Did you say you were shot?”

“Yes!” I answered back, leaning against a wall to catch my breath and clenched my jaw in pain, feeling blood running down my chest and back.

Hearing footsteps again, I pushed away from the wall and continued down the hall. Ahead of me I could see a secured room that required badge scan access and headed for it, knowing that if I was able to get inside I would be safe until the police arrived. I got to the door and was about to scan in when I heard the click of a gun.

“Hold it right there, missy,” Samson sneered at me, “You’re not going anywhere.”

Breathing hard in fear and exertion, I turned around to face him.

“You’ve lead us on quite a merry chase,” he said with a sickening smile, “but I think it will end here.”

Time seemed to slow as I watched his finger move toward the trigger.

“What are you doing?” Snart bellowed as he caught up, “I told you we don’t kill cops or guards. We don’t need that kind of heat!”

“Really Snart,” Samson mocked, before suddenly lunging forward, grabbing me and placing me in front of him as a shield, “Then maybe we should get rid of you first.”

“Just try…” Snart started to say when Jameson, who had snuck up behind him struck Snart across the back of his head with his gun.

I screamed as he went down and began to struggle against Samson, the pocket clip on my badge breaking in the process. Samson cursed and punched my injured shoulder, the pain nearly driving me to my knees.

“Cops are almost here,” Jameson gasped, obviously out of breath from running, his face red from both the pepper spray and exertion, “We gotta go!”

“Well she is going to be our ticket out of here,” Samson said shoving me ahead of him.

“What about him?” Jameson questioned, motioning toward Snart who was still lying prone on the floor.

“Leave him for the cops,” Samson snickered evilly.

“Enjoy prison, Snart!” Jameson taunted as they forced me back the way we came.

As we exited the building, Samson held me in front of him and hurried me across the back parking lot toward an old, beat up, black SUV and shoved me in the back seat and climbed in next to me with Jameson behind the wheel. Just as was started to pull out a police car came around the building, siren screaming. Sampson placed his arm around my neck and pulled me into view of the police, with his gun placed against my temple. He then rolled down the back window and addressed the cops.

“Now unless you wanna see this woman killed, I suggest you back up and let us out,” he yelled, “Once we are away we will let her go. But if I see one cop following us, she’s dead!”

I swallowed hard and tried to hide my fear upon seeing the hopelessness in the cops’ eyes. They really had no choice, so they moved and let the SUV past. Sampson kept his gun pressed to my temple as Jameson left the parking lot and drove through the streets of Central City like a demon. Finally, they pulled into a covered service way and hurried me to another car that was sitting waiting. Obviously they had anticipated this type of getaway. They shoved me into the back seat of the small car and this time Jameson sat in the back with Samson behind the wheel wearing a ball cap and glasses. Jameson shoved me down until I was curled up in a ball on the floor board and pointed his gun at me.

“You so much as pop your head up or make a peep,” he snarled, “You're dead!”

I sat there terrified and wishing I could go back to my quiet boring night!


	2. Chapter 2

*****Snart POV*****

Snart lay face down on the floor for several minutes after Samson and Jameson had left, fighting to remain conscious while the back of his throbbed painfully and Jameson’s taunt rang in his ears. Finally, he managed to push himself to his hands and knees, his anger at the double cross giving him all the strength he needed. When he finally opened his eyes he found himself staring down at a blue, plastic, rectangle, clearly out of place on the gray and white tiled floor. The picture on it was of a smiling young woman, probably about early to mid-thirties, with dark, red hair, fair skin, and hazel eyes. It only took him a moment to realize what it was. The security guard’s badge and he inwardly cursed, hoping the two men had not done what it looked like they had.

Suddenly, he heard voices approaching and thanked his good fortune that the badge was there, as the only place he could hide at the moment was the secure room at the end on the short hall. Grabbing the badge, he quickly got up and pressed it against the scan plate. There was a quick, high pitched, beep before he heard the click of the door’s lock releasing and he quickly entered the room and closed the door as quietly as he could. As soon as he had entered automatic lights flickered on in the room, revealing shelves full of boxes and tall file cabinets that he guessed were stuffed with files. Just as he was taking this in he heard a couple of people enter the hall and stop just down from the door. Snart reached out, quickly hitting the button to shut off the automatic lights and pulled out his cold gun, barrel pointed up and ready to use if necessary.

“She said that she was at the back of the building,” said the voice of an older man, “She could be around here hiding somewhere.”

“Well, what’s in there?” said another man and Snart cursed, as he recognized that voice.

Det. Joe West, which meant his least favorite hero would not be far behind, though he was surprised that he had not shown up already.

“File storage,” the other man answered.

“Does your supervisor have access to it?” Det. West asked but before the other man could answer an urgent call came over the radio.

“Joe, do you copy?” came the call.

“Yeah, what have you got?” West answered back.

“We need you in the back parking lot,” the officer on the other end said urgently, “We just had two male subjects leave with a female hostage. I think she is the security guard you are looking for.”

“On my way,” Det. West answered and Snart heard the two men quickly take off.

Snart leaned his head back against the wall and cursed the stupidity of his former partners. There was a reason why he had a rule about not shooting cops or guards. There was no quicker way to guarantee that the full weight of the CCPD would come down on you than to take out one of their own. Taking one hostage was just as bad. Holstering his cold gun, Snart cracked the door open and, seeing the way was clear, snuck out of the room and toward the east end of the building. Thankfully luck was on his side and he was able to exit through the east entrance without being seen and mingle with the crowd of employees and onlookers before stepping back into the shadows, making his getaway.

*****Det. West POV*****

Det. West exited the building by the west entrance only to be met by a very angry Capt. Singh.

“West, where is Allen?” the captain yelled, asking about Joe’s adoptive son and their precinct’s in house CSI.

“I don’t think he got the call out,” Joe answered, surprised that Barry had not been here way before the police, what with him being the Flash and all, “He was probably still in bed when I left the house.”

“Well wake him up,” Singh ordered, “We are going to need all hands on deck if we are going to find these men before that woman gets hurt.”

Joe nodded, already having had his phone out and dialing Barry’s number.

“Joe, hey!” the voice of a young man answered on the third ring.

“Cisco?” Joe asked surprised, “Where’s Barry?”

“Uh, he’s a little busy at the moment,” Cisco answered, though his last words were almost completely drowned out by a loud whoosh and the sound of Barry yelling in the background.

“Get it off!” Barry was yelling frantically, “Get it off!”

“Barry what is that stuff?” Caitlyn’s voice was suddenly yelling right along with Barry’s.

“I don’t know!” Barry yelled back, “Just help me get it off! It burns!”

“Dude! What did you do to my suit?!” Cisco was suddenly yelling and Joe heard the sound of the phone being dropped, “Is that acid?!”

“I don’t know!” Barry yelled again, “The meta I just locked up in the pipeline puked on me!”

“OK, hold still!” Cisco said suddenly and then Joe heard what sounded like a high powered hose being turned on.

“Cisco look out….” was the last thing Joe heard before the line went dead and he sighed trying to think up a good excuse to give Capt. Singh as to why Barry would not be showing up for a while.

*****Mary POV*****

We drove for about thirty minutes, though it seemed like a lot longer from my cramped position on the car’s floor board, but finally we stopped in what looked like the old warehouse district in Central City and I swallowed hard, a feeling of dread washing over me.

 _“If they were going to let me go,”_ I thought, shaking in fear and pain, _“They would have done so by now and not brought me all the way out here.”_

I stayed where I was as Samson and Jameson got out of the car, hoping they would just abandon the car and let me go. However, the door behind me opened and Samson grabbed me by my injured arm, forcing me out of the car. I clenched my jaw, grinding my teeth together, refusing to cry out in pain.

“Start walking,” Samson growled in my ear.

“The cops let you go,” I protested, turning to face him, “I am of no use to you any more, just let me go.”

Samson turned to Jameson and snickered.

“Just let her go,” he mocked before turning back to me, grabbing the front of my shirt and slamming me back against the car.

“Why, so you can go and snitch to the cops,” he sneered, “I don’t think so.”

He then pulled me forward, twisting my left arm behind my back and drawing a gasp if pain from me as it put pressure on my wounded shoulder.

“Now I said walk,” he ordered and they walked me into what look to be an old iron foundry.

We walked to about the center of the first floor, when Samson finally shoved me down into a hard wooden chair by the wall. Looking around the place was a pigsty. There were two run down tables covered with fast food garbage and old beer cans, and a filthy couch set in front of an ancient box type T.V. several feet from where I sat. Samson came back over to me with several lengths of thin, rough looking, rope in his hand and proceeded to bind me to the chair by looping the rope around my torso and upper arms as well as the back of the chair. He then took another length and tied my wrists together uncomfortably tight and did the same with my ankles before walking away again.

“So what are we going to do with her?” Jameson asked, leering at me evilly.

“Right now she is our insurance, if the cops should find us,” Samson replied, “They won’t dare storm the building while we have a hostage.”

“And if they don’t find us?” Jameson asked a little too eagerly for my comfort.

Samson looked over at me with the same evil look on his face before answering.

“Well I am sure we can find something entertaining to do,” he said with a grin, “But in the meantime, go find us some food while I figure out our next move.”

Jameson then left and Samson turned to some kind of paperwork that he had on the table in front of him, leaving me to think about and fear what the next days could hold for me.

*****Snart POV*****

Leonard Snart was not happy. Not. At. All! It had taken him two hours to finally get back to the warehouse that he and his sister Lisa had one of their many temporary living spaces set up. Currently he sat in front of his laptop watching the news reports about the failed break in, holding ice to the back of his head and tried not to think about how the job had gone so wrong. Getting into the building had been textbook, as the armed guards outside had been taken care of with a few canisters of knockout gas that had been hidden in the guard shack and trucks earlier in the day and on timers. The scan plate on the outside entrance taken care of by some stolen tech.

What he had not counted on was the silent alarm the tech had set off or the fact that the security inside had been as proficient as they were. Everything had gone south when Samson had found that female security guard snooping around. He had hoped that they would be able to finish the job after he had caught up to Samson after the woman had slammed and locked a door in his face, after he had ordered the man to forget about the guard and that they had a limited amount of time before the cops or a certain scarlet speedster showed up. Another thing he had not counted on was Samson’s anger at being shown up by a woman.

Snart now shuddered to think what those two degenerates were going to do to the poor girl. He continued to search through everything he had on the two men, trying to figure out where they would have holed up. Though the terrified look he had seen on the woman’s face when he had caught up to find Samson had her cornered, a look he had seen too many times on his sister’s face as a child when they would be hiding from their abusive father, kept coming to his mind, he kept telling himself that he was not trying to find them to rescue her.

 _“I am no hero!”_ he thought snidely, _“But nobody double crosses me and gets away with it!_


	3. Chapter 3

*****Mary POV*****

For the next two days, I sat tied to that chair. Only let up to use the bathroom, though they seemed to think it entertaining to leave my hands tied therefore causing more agony for me as moving one arm meant moving the other. Toward the middle of the first day the two men dozed off, Jameson sprawled on the filthy couch in front of the T.V. and Samson at one of the tables, I found myself fighting to stay awake and trying to ignore the blood that was now congealing on my shoulder, back and chest. As a security guard I had been trained in first aid and with this knowledge came fear. I knew that the wound to my shoulder needed medical attention and that the weakness I was feeling was from far more than it being around the time that I usually went to bed. Considering that these two men have not killed me yet, blood loss and infection were my real enemies at the moment. Struggle as I might, I could not get out of my bindings and all the struggling did was make the rope dig farther into the skin at my wrists, leaving them raw and chafed. Finally I couldn't fight it anymore and fell asleep only to be woken a few hours later by a shout.

“Samson!” Jameson yelled, waking his partner, “come over here.”

I blinked my eyes, groggy, disorientated, and terribly thirsty. By now both men were over in front of the T.V. and not seeming happy about what they were seeing.

“How did he get away?” Samson shouted angrily, “You knocked him out!”

“Should we be worried about Snart?” Jameson asked, clearly worried.

“No,” Samson answered, “He has no idea where we are and in two days’ time we will be on a plane to Cuba.”

“What about her?” Jameson asked causing Samson to turn to look at me.

“We will keep her until tomorrow night,” Samson answered, “Just in case we need leverage. After that, I know plenty of people who would pay nicely for a new toy.”

I could not hide the shiver of fear that went down my spine at his words. After that they ignored me for the rest of the day. As the day wore on and into the night, the heat rose and my thirst became almost unbearable. By the next day, I had given up hope that rescue was coming. I could tell the wound on my shoulder was inflamed and so tender to the touch that even the rub of my shirt caused me agony. As the evening of the second day approached, I was so weak from thirst, hunger and blood loss that I could no longer find the strength to care about what they did to me. I found myself wishing that death would come.

*****Snart POV*****

It had taken him the better part of two days to find his former partners, now on the evening of the second day he sat in his sister’s car, thankful that she had chosen this week to go out of town, and watched as Jameson emerged from the old iron foundry. The fat man climbed into his car and drove off in the opposite direction. Leonard smirked as he imagined the two men’s reactions when they found out that Jameson’s fast food addiction, particularly to a certain burger joint, was how he had been able to locate and follow them back to their hideout. All it had taken was a picture of the two men, a little cash, and a hacker acquaintance to find them and now Snart was just hours away from his revenge.

Snart waited until after the sun had set to make his move. For the last ten minutes he had seen Jameson carrying bags to the black SUV from the building. Snart waited until the man was busy at the tail of the SUV before sneaking up behind him. He then tapped him on the shoulder and, when Jameson turned around, punched him hard on the jaw, and as he fell down Snart gave him a kick for good measure. He considered killing the men, but he had the Flash to remember and a certain deal he had made with the speedster. He really did not want to end up in prison. Snart then snuck into the building, keeping to the shadows, and approached Samson, who he saw working furiously at a laptop.

“Jameson, would you hurry up,” Samson yelled, “We gotta get out of here.”

“I’m afraid that Jameson is not going to be of any more help,” Snart replied in a cold voice.

Samson whipped around to face Snart as he stepped out of the shadows and into the anemic light that came from the one small lamp on the table with his cold gun pointed at the shorter man’s heart.

“Snart!” Samson exclaimed, “How did you find us?”

“You really should teach your partner to control his appetite,” Leonard sneered, enjoying the fear he saw in the other man’s eyes, “Also going to the same restaurant made it too easy.”

Snart could almost see the wheels turning in the other man’s head, trying to figure a way out of the predicament. Samson slowly approached Snart, his hands by his sides.

“Look, Snart we can talk about this,” Samson said, edging around the table.

“Talk about what?” Snart asked drily, “How you two double crossed me? I don’t think so.”

Samson nodded his head slightly before stopping and giving Snart an evil smile that immediately put him on guard.

“Maybe you’re right,” Samson replied and quickly pulled out a gun.

Unfortunately for him, Snart was faster and fired one short burst from his cold gun, catching the man’s hand. Samson screamed, dropping the gun and falling to his knees. Snart walked over to him, a smug smirk on his face.

“That’s first degree frost bite,” he explained, pulling his goggles down to glare at the man, “Remember this moment the next time you double cross someone.”

Snart then stood and delivered a hard kick to the Samson’s jaw, silencing his screams.

“Piece of trash,” he thought darkly as he turned to leave. However as he headed for the door a hunched over figure caught his eye. As he approached the figure he saw a person with long hair tied to a chair with their head bowed. Kneeling down in front of the person, Snart reach out and moved their hair from the person’s face before recognizing the security guard from the call center. He then placed two fingers against her neck and was surprised to find a strong pulse. Snart sighed, pulled out a small knife and began cutting her loose of her tight bindings. While he would be the first to tell you he was not hero, he also did not approve of or allow wanton violence against women or children. When he was finished with the rope around her chest and ankles, he turned his attention to the rope around her wrists.

He had purposefully avoided these bindings and grimaced at the amount of blood on them. Trying to cause her as little pain as possible, Snart carefully cut the rope and gently removed it from her wrists. Surprisingly, she made no sound causing Snart to look more closely at her. He could just make out a large dark stain and a hole in the left shoulder of her uniform shirt as well as very dry, chapped lips.

“She needs a doctor,” he thought, taking in her condition.

Carefully moving to her right side, Snart lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the building and placed her in the passenger seat of his car. As he drove away, Snart had every intention of just driving her to the hospital and leaving her at the entrance. However, he cursed his luck upon listening to the police scanner on his dashboard. There had been a police involved shooting with two officers down, so that meant that the hospital would be swarming with cops and he had no desire to get arrested tonight.

“Well, looks like you will be staying with me for a while,” Snart said, talking to the unconscious woman before turning the car around and heading back to his hideout.


	4. Chapter 4

*****Snart POV*****

Snart finished pulling his car into the warehouse and closed the automatic door, before shutting off the engine. He then turned and stared at the unconscious woman in the seat next to him. Rubbing a hand roughly over his face he once again cursed Samson and Jameson for their stupidity and for putting him in this situation. Finally he sighed and got out of the car. Coming to the other side, he stooped down and carefully as he could, lifted her out, drawing only a slight moan of pain from her when her injured shoulder bumped his chest. He then carried her into the next room and laid her down on a couch before finally turning to look at the wound on her shoulder, taking off his heavy parka and casting it over a nearby chair.

 Quickly and gently as he could, Snart unbuttoned and worked her uniform shirt off, breathing a slight sigh of relief at the sight of the black, spandex tank top she wore underneath. The last thing he wanted to deal with was the righteous indignation of a woman, when she woke up to find herself half naked. Finally able to get a closer look at the bullet wound, he was grateful to see that luck was on his side, as the bullet seemed to have passed through her shoulder sparing him the task of having to dig it out. The whole time he did this the only indication he got of her coming around was a couple moans of pain and the furrowing of her brow.

 Snart left briefly to make a quick phone call and then get a couple of clean towels, a washcloth, his first aid kit, and a bowl of water. In his line of work he had seen and tended to numerous injuries, including gunshot wounds. Carefully he placed one of the towels under her injured shoulder and began to clean away the blood from her shoulder, chest and back. When this was done, he put the bowl and wash cloth aside and grabbed the large bottle of peroxide from the first aid kit.

 _“Well, if she is not awake now,”_ he thought grimly as he opened the bottle and held it above the entrance wound in her shoulder, _“She will be in a moment.”_

Steeling himself for her reaction, Snart tipped the bottle and poured the peroxide directly on the wound. Within seconds the woman’s eyes popped open and she shot upright with a shrill scream of pain.

 Snart quickly put the bottle down and wrapped his arms around her to keep her from lashing out violently at him or causing herself farther injury, pinning her left arm and shoulder against his chest and holding her right arm tightly to her body. This, however, did not stop her from struggling; though with everything she had been through in the last forty-eight hours, Snart still had the upper hand strength wise and was able to subdue her until she stopped struggling. Finally, she sagged down against him, breathing hard and shaking with pain. Snart took the opportunity to reach up and move her hair over her right shoulder, out of the way, and then turned to pick up the peroxide again. His movements caused her to turn and look at him with fear and pain filled eyes.

 Leonard saw the moment she understood what he had done and was about to do again.

“No, please, no,” she begged, trying vainly to get out of his grip, “Please stop.”

“It has to be done,” he replied in an emotionless voice and turning away from the pleading looking in her eyes, “You don’t want it infected.”

He then tipped the bottle and poured the peroxide over the exit wound on her back, causing her to scream in pain again and bury her face in his shoulder. Leonard waited for her to calm down, clenching his jaw as he felt tears start to soak into his shirt and really starting to rethink going back and killing Samson and Jameson.

*****Mary POV*****

 Shadows and voices drifted past me, not enough of a bother to lure me out of the semi-conscious state in which I found myself. Pain and fear were far away, though I heard a shout and then I could sense myself being moved. The only thing that seemed to rouse me further was a quick jot of pain coming from my shoulder, as if it had bumped into something hard. Then I was being shifted around, not helping the pain in my shoulder which kept trying to pull me back into the world of the living when I wanted to stay here where it was safe and away from the pain. Unfortunately, that decision was ripped from me and I was brutally pulled back to full consciousness as it felt like someone had poured scalding hot water on my shoulder.

 When the pain finally lessened, I turned to face whoever it was that had caused my pain and found myself face-to-face with a familiar man. The man that Samson had called Snart had me tightly pinned against him as he reached for something. Catching a glimpse of a recognizable brown bottle, I realized what had been the cause of my pain and not amount of begging was going to stop him from doing the same to the wound on my back. I screamed as pain flooded my sense again and buried my face in Snart’s shoulder, trying to hide the tears that flowed down my face. In the back of my mind I knew he was right about the wounds needing to be cleaned, but that did not mean I had to be happy about it.

 Finally he released me and I steadied myself, leaning forward on my shaking arms. Suddenly I felt him press something soft slathered in something cold to the wound on my back causing me to flinch and hiss in pain. Turning to look, I caught the sight of something stark white and recognized that it was a thick pad of gauze that he was carefully taping in place. Once he finished with my back he gave my arm a small nudge and taped another pad of gauze to the wound in the front of my shoulder before tightly wrapping some bandages around it. Watching him, I tried to figure out why he was helping me since he had been partners with the two men who had abducted me in the first place.

 However, before I could ask he put gentle pressure on my uninjured shoulder and pushed me until I was again lying down once more. He then picked up a cloth out of a bowl, rang it out and started cleaning the raw rope burns encircling my wrists. As the water touched the wounds I yelped and tried to pull my hand away. He simply tightened his grip and continued what he was doing. “What’s your name?” he asked suddenly and I looked up at him in surprise, forgetting for a moment about the pain my tired mind tried to process his sudden curiosity. He looked at me when I did not answer and I found myself replying without even thinking.

 “Mary,” I said.

“My name’s Leonard,” he replied before going silent.

“Why are you helping me?” I asked before hissing in pain as he hit a tender spot.

“What happened to you was not part of the plan,” he replied.

“The plan?” I asked but all I got was smirk as an answer before I noticed him placing a towel under my wrists and reaching for the peroxide again.

Seeing what he was about to do, I went to sit up and tucked my hands to my chest.

“Oh no,” I said, shaking my head trying to scoot away.

Snart gave me a look of impatience, as if I were an uncooperative child.

“Those wounds need to be cleaned,” he said in a maddeningly calm voice, “Unless you want them infected.”

 I ground my teeth at his logic, knowing he was right and hating it. Finally, I extended my hands out and he pushed me back so that I was lying down again. Only this time he kept his left hand on my uninjured shoulder and his forearm firmly across the upper portion of my chest.

“On three,” he said and I nodded, blowing out an anxious breath.

“One…tw…AHHHHH!” I started but did not even get past two when he poured the peroxide over my wrists, “YOU SAID THREE THAT WAS BARELY ONE AND A HALF!”

Before I could react beyond screaming at him in pain, Snart quickly turned my wrists over and emptied the last of the peroxide over them and finally let me up.

 I shot upright once more and cradled my arms to my chest, huffing and groaning in pain when it hit me. The pain from both my shoulder and wrists being too much.

“Move!” I groaned shifting toward the edge of the couch.

“MOVE!”I shouted once more before leaning over the edge of the couch and losing whatever have been on my stomach, which was nothing but bile.

I barely had time to register that Snart had pushed a bucket beneath my head. I stayed that was for a few minutes, dry heaving before black spots began to dance before my eyes and I finally passed out.

*****Snart POV*****

 Leonard was not surprised when Mary suddenly yelled at him to move and then subsequently vomited. His sister had reacted the same way when he had cleaned her first gunshot wound. He merely pushed the bucket he had next to the couch for this very reason, under her head and held back her hair, waiting for her to finish. But he was caught off guard when she groaned and slumped to the side, causing him to have to quickly wrap in arms around her ribs to keep her from face planting into the floor. He carefully placed her back on the couch before quickly bandaging her wrists. Finally done, Leonard quickly cleaned up the mess, placed a blanket over her and then turned on the T.V. to see whether or not the last bit of his plan had made the news.

*****Det. West POV*****

 Det. West entered the old abandoned iron foundry and watched as the second of two men were carted out to the ambulance. About twenty minutes ago they had gotten an anonymous phone call alerting them to the location of these two wanted men. What concerned the detective was that the security guard that they had kidnapped was nowhere to be found. 

“Hey, Joe,” one of the officers called to him, “You may want to see this.”

Joe walked over and saw what the man was referring to. He then walked outside and called Barry.

“Hey Joe,” Barry answered, “Did you find anything at the foundry?”

“Yeah,” Joe answered, “Both of the men are here, but someone got to them first.”

 “What do you mean?” Barry asked.

“Well they were both knocked out,” Joe replied, “And one of them, a man named Marcus Samson, had frostbite on his right hand.”

“You thinking what I am?” Barry asked his voice tight with concern.

“Yeah, Snart got to them first.” Joe replied, “But why would he take the guard they kidnapped?”

“I don’t know,” Barry answered, “That’s not like him.”

“No it’s not,” Joe said quietly, dread settling in the pit of his stomach as he walked out past the gathering crowd of reporters to his car.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

*****Snart POV*****

 Leonard awoke feeling distinctly uncomfortable, with a bright light shining in his face. He opened his eyes and furrowed his brow in confusion upon finding he was not in his bed. Instead he was laid back in his recliner in front of the T.V., the morning news playing softly and the sun shining through the dusty windows of the warehouse. A clock in the lower right corner of the T.V. screen told him it was 9:30 AM. Rubbing a hand over his face, Leonard sat the chair up, remembering why he had slept here instead of in his bed. Should she have woken up, he had not wanted Mary to go wandering through the streets in her condition. As bad as he was, Snart knew that there were worse men in this part of town. So, being the light sleeper he was, he had taken to his recliner by the door so that he would be sure that she could not wander off in the middle of the night.

 _“I need coffee,”_ he thought as he shook off the usual morning grogginess.

Though he was a light sleeper, thanks to his numerous stints in jail, he was actually a very slow starter in the morning, something his sister found quite funny. Finally a dry cough caught his attention and he turned toward the couch. Mary was still asleep, though she had managed to turn  herself onto her right side, facing the back of the couch, with the blanket pulled up to her chin, huddled under it as if it were freezing in the room. Frowning at the sight, as the temp in the corner of the T.V. alongside the time said that it was already 80 degrees, well within comfort levels for most people, causing Leonard to walk over and check on her.

He felt his level of concern rise as he took in her features. Her face was unusually pale except for a bright flush of color on her cheeks. Reaching down he placed his hand on her forehead and softly cursed to himself as he felt her abnormally warm skin. He sighed in frustration, having thought he had gotten the wounds cleaned enough but it seemed infection had set in anyway, as she now had a fever. It was not very high but a fever nonetheless.  Not happy with this turn, Leonard left the room to gather some more first aid supplies before heading to the small kitchen to put on some coffee. While there he grabbed some aspirin and a bottle of water from the fridge.

Returning to the room, Leonard placed his items on a low table in front of the couch before giving Mary’s leg a firm nudge to wake her. However all he got was a groan as she tried to burrow further into the back of the couch. Leonard smirked at this response and gave her another nudge; it would seem he was not the only non-morning person here. Finally, Mary cracked one eye open and glared slightly at him.

“Leave me alone,” she groaned irritably, “I just got to sleep a little while ago.”

Leonard snorted slightly, finding this response even more amusing, before bending down, placing his right arm under her, and pulling her to a seated position.

 “I will take that as a “no,”” Mary grumbled, leaning back against him.

“You have slept all night,” Leonard answered, trying to get her to sit upright on her own.

“No I haven’t,” she replied in a croaky voice, looking around the room through squinted eyes. Leonard let out a slight huff of laughter, causing Mary to turn and glare at him.

“You snore,” she stated wryly, as if this explained her lack of sleep, then turned to lean away from him missing the surprised raise of his brows.

Leonard knew that she had recognized him yesterday when she had woken up but, while most people were terrified of him, she still had the nerve to throw a little sass at him. This fact earned her some respect from him, as he could understand being in a vulnerable situation and having nothing but attitude to hide behind.

After she had leaned away to sit up on her own, Snart handed her the bottle of water and aspirin.

“Drink it slowly,” he admonished before turning to her shoulder and carefully taking the bandage off.

“Okay, Dad,” he heard her mutter sarcastically before taking the pills with a cautious sip of the water.

Her response caused a small smile to come to his face unknowingly, as her sass continued to amuse him.

 “You should be careful doing that,” she said suddenly causing him to look up from the gauze her was trying to remove gently to find her watching him from the corner of her eye.

“What?” he drawled, trying to figure out what she was referring to.

“Smiling,” she answered, actually giving him a small smile of her own, “You may end up cracking your face.” 

Leonard could not help the small huff of laughter that escaped him as Mary turned away and gave a small, dry, chuckle of her own.

*****Det. West POV*****

 Joe leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes in frustration. He had been working all night and most of the day and still could not find any solid leads as to where Snart could be holed up, that the warehouse district was a maze of abandoned building and old business that tended to attract the criminal element was no help either. Barry had been helping as much as he could, but between handing all the breachers that Zoom kept sending over to kill him and just the usual craziness that went on in Central City he had not had much rest. So Joe had told him to go home and sleep for a few hours, promising to call him if he found a lead.

However, that was starting to look less and less likely as Jameson and Sampson had demanded lawyers, refusing to talk even with council present. Joe had not expected them to give him anything anyway, seeing as they were career criminals and from the video evidence from the call center and what he had seen at the foundry it did not look as if they had parted with Snart amicably. So he doubted that they even knew where Snart was.

It still puzzled him as to why Snart would take the guard in the first place. Looking at the woman’s records and financials, there was no way he would be holding her for ransom. She was the third shift supervisor for the security firm she worked for, made decent pay but not extravagant, neither did her parents have money. Her legal record was practically spotless, other than a speeding ticket from last year. Joe sighed and straightened, taking note that it was now past seven in the evening, when his phone rang.

“Detective West,” he answered curtly, before coming fully straight before his computer at what the person on the other end was saying.

“Are you sure?” he questioned, as he grabbed his coat and ran for the elevator, “I’ll be right there.”

He then called Barry, waking him up from the sleepy sound of his voice.

“Barry, we found her,” was all he had to say before he hear the sound of a loud whoosh and assumed it was Barry getting dressed at super speed.

“Where?” Barry asked, sounding fully awake now as Joe told him where to meet.


	6. Chapter 6

*****Mary POV*****

 I sat as still as possible, continuing to watch Snart out of the corner of my eye as he started to change my bandages and slowly sipping the bottle of water he had given me, relishing the cool liquid as it ran down my throat. The only other time I’d had anything to drink in the last three days was when Samson and Jameson let me up to the bathroom and that had been out of a filthy tap and lukewarm at best. I’d had a lot of time to think during the night, as the pain from my shoulder had kept me awake, not Leonard snoring as I had implied, though since he breathed quite heavily when he was asleep it was not exactly a lie, and had finally figured out why the name Leonard Snart had sounded so familiar.

 He was well known in Central City as a thief and was wanted for multiple counts of Armed Robbery. These facts alone made me very wary of him, though the small smile on his face told me that my sarcasm had only amused him rather than angered. I’d been told before that wherever I was scared or angry that I tended to hide it beneath attitude and sarcastic wit. Was I scared at the moment? Yes, but nowhere near as terrified as I had been when I had been held by the other two men, the reason being that  Snart had not given me reason to be… yet. What had me scared and wary of him was his reputation. He was not known for warmth and mercy, which only served to confuse me more as to why I was here.

 If he had gone to the foundry just for revenge on Samson and Jameson for their obvious double cross, then he could have just left me there for the cops to find. However, if he was hoping to get an expensive ransom for me, he was going to be sorely disappointed, as I had no money and neither did parents. Turning to question him about this, I froze once again at the sight of the familiar brown bottle in his hand and all thoughts of anything else other than what was to come next flew out of my mind. My eyes met his for a second, and I could have sworn that I saw something akin to compassion in those blueish green depths, before I turned away. I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to try and brace for the pain, flinching violently and pulling away when something cold touched my back.

 Hearing Leonard give an almost impatient sigh, I turned to him to see his hand out stretched and realized that he had only been examining the wound.

“Your hands are cold,” I said, causing him to raise a brow at me before a sardonic smirk spread across his face, as if I had said something amusingly ironic.

After a moment he placed a clean towel beneath the wound on my back and then looked back at me. I nodded and then looked away. Seconds later he poured the peroxide over the wound and I felt every muscle in my body lock up, fighting against the pain which seemed worse than yesterday. I clenched my jaw, refusing to scream this time, closed my eyes tightly and balled my hands into tight fists.

I did not realize that I was starting to slump to the side until I felt Leonard’s arms encircle me. I leaned against him while he place a clean square of gauze, slathered in only what I could guess was antibiotic ointment, over the wound. He then gently pushed me back until I was leaning against the arm of the couch and I took another deep breath, knowing that he was not finished with my shoulder yet. Then the pain was back, seeming worse than the back had been, and I felt myself start to shake all over, whether from how cold I was or the pain I could not tell. Suddenly I felt like I was gasping for breath as darkness started to close in on my vision. There was a strange buzzing in my ears, as if someone were talking, before I finally surrendered and fell into the bliss of unconsciousness.

*****Snart POV*****

 Leonard was just about done cleaning the entrance wound on the front of Mary’s shoulder, thinking that she was taking this better than she had last night, when suddenly she started gasping.

“You’re hyperventilating,” he stated urgently, immediately seeing the problem, “You need to calm down and take a deep breath before you…”

Suddenly Mary went limp.

“Pass out,” he sighed, rolling his eyes in frustration before quickly finishing up rebadging her shoulder. 

Leonard then turned to her wrists, relieved to see that they looked better than her shoulder. At least there was no sign of infection in those wounds.

Once he finished and cleaned up, Leonard went about several tasks that he had been putting off for the last week in preparation of the job, returning to check on Mary every hour or so. He managed to wake her a little after noon and was able to get her to drink more water and take some more aspirin, as he fever was getting worse. However when he tried to get her to eat something, she refused. She left the couch a couple of time to use the bathroom, then curl up again to sleep on and off throughout the day.

As the hours past and her fever rose, Leonard grew more concerned and wished for the sun to set, trying to figure out the confusing amount of compassion her felt for this woman. He had only had compassion for two other people. One being his baby sister and the other was Mick Rory, the only person he could truly call a friend.

 _“Well, Lisa and Mick know the risks of the life we have chosen,”_ he reasoned with himself, _“This woman didn’t choose this.”_

Finally, around seven the sun started to go down and, according to the police scanner, all seemed to be clear in the vicinity of the hospital. Leonard went to wake Mary, only to find that she would not. Placing his hand on her forehead, he ground his teeth angrily at how high her fever had climbed before quickly pulling the blanket off of her and, as carefully as he could, put her uniform shirt back on. Seeing that she was still shivering violently, Leonard made a decision and carefully placed his parka on her. Zipping her secure into it he took some string and tied her plastic access badge to the zipper.

 _“I can always get another,”_ he thought as he gently picked her up and carried her to the car.

A half an hour later, Leonard pulled into the parking lot of St. Andrews Hospital. Carefully parking in the shadows, in a camera blind spot that he had sought out for the very eventuality, he got out and went to the passenger side. Gently lifting Mary out, he quickly walked to the entrance knowing that he had about one hundred and twenty seconds before hospital security figured out something was wrong. Then he had about another sixty before they called the police and come out to confront him. It would take the police about another hundred and eighty seconds, with lights and sirens, to get here, so he knew he had to hurry.

Carefully, Leonard placed Mary on the ground against one of the columns at the entrance and glanced down at her one more time before hurrying back to his car. However, he could not leave before he knew she was safe, so he parked his car were he had a good vantage point but could not be easily spotted and quickly placed an anonymous call to the hospital alerting them to her presence. Breathing a sigh of relief, he watched as the nurses hurried out with a gurney to find Mary and took her inside.

By that time it was too late to leave before the police arrived, so he slumped down behind the wheel as a squad car arrived carrying none other than Det. Joe West. Then, over by the camera blind spot, he caught sight of a familiar streak of yellow lightning and out of the shadows walked Barry Allen. Leonard watched as hero and cop hurried into the hospital before starting the car again and leaving.


	7. Chapter 7

*****Det. West POV*****

 Joe hurried into the ER with Barry right behind him. When he had gotten the call from dispatch that the missing security guard had been left at the hospital, he could not contain his surprise. Why would Snart take the woman from the foundry where she was being held, keep her for a day and a half, only to leave her at the hospital? It was completely out of character for the man. There were just too many unanswered questions in this case for the Detective’s comfort, questions that he hoped that Miss. Alexander would be able to answer.

The two men walked up to the triage desk and spoke to the nurse sitting there.

“I am Detective West,” Joe introduced himself, showing the nurse his badge then gestured to Barry, “This is CSI Allen. We got a call stating that Mary Alexander had been found here.” 

“Yes, the missing security guard that was on the news,” the nurse responded, “Wait here, I will be right back.”

She then left the waiting room, only to return a minute later.

“The doctor is still in with her and will be out to speak with you in a moment,” she told them, “However, our head of security has the recordings from our security cameras that your precinct requested ready.”

“I’ll go get those,” Barry said and then turned to follow a guard that the nurse had waved over.

It was about thirty minutes later; Barry had returned with the copies of the security camera recordings, when the doctor finally came out.

“Detective West?” the doctor asked as she shook their hands, “I am Dr. Rebekah Lewis.”

She was a short woman with medium length black hair and green eyes.

“It’s good to meet you Dr. Lewis,” Barry answered, “Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“How’s Miss. Alexander?” Joe asked.

“She is resting right now,” Dr. Lewis answered, leading the men into a room to the side so they could talk, “She will be alright after a while. Though after hearing what she had been through, I was expecting worse.”

“What do you mean?” Joe asked.

“Well, I was expecting the infection to be much worse than it is,” Dr. Lewis replied, “Especially with a deep, open, gunshot wound that I expected have been untreated for nearly four days.”

Joe and Barry looked at each other in confusion.

“What are you saying?” Barry asked.

“I am saying that whomever she was with tended to that wound,” she answered briskly, “And, though rather crudely, they seemed to have known what they were doing,”

“So you’re saying that she owes the person who tended to her and then brought her here her life?” Barry asked incredulously, while Joe looked equally shocked.

“Or at the very least he or she is reason Miss. Alexander will keep her arm,” Dr. Lewis answered with a nod.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Joe responded, “Please let us know when she wakes.”

Dr. Lewis nodded before leaving the room.

*****Two days later*****

Joe walked up the stairs at the precinct and entered Barry’s lab, where the young CSI was bent over his computer still studying the recordings from the hospital.

“Hey, Bear,” Joe called out, “Tell me you got something.”

Something in Joe’s tone caused Barry to look away from the screen in front of him.

“I take it that Miss. Alexander couldn’t tell you much,” Barry replied, seeing the confused look on his adoptive father’s face.

“Not really,” Joe said with a sigh, thinking about what the security guard had told him when he had questioned her at the hospital a little while ago, “And what she was able to tell me just does not make sense with what we know about Snart.”

“Well I am afraid the cameras were any more help either,” Barry answered, sending the video from his computer screen to the big screen so Joe could see it too, "This is the best view of Snart that we got.”

The two men watched as Snart came out of a camera blind spot carrying Mary Alexander, who was wearing Snart’s too big parka. They watched as the thief placed her with surprising gentleness on the ground leaning against a pillar, before leaving after looking down at her for a second.

“After this it looked like he went and parked in the parking lot and watched as she was taken inside,” Barry said, pausing the video after the nurses had hurried Mary inside, “It appears that he left just after we arrived.”

“This does not make sense,” Joe sighed, looking down at the notes he had taken at the hospital, “Why would Snart suddenly change his behavior?”

“What did Miss. Alexander tell you?” Barry asked. Joe handed him his notebook and Barry’s brows rose up to his hairline.

“Well, it looks like some leopards do change their spots,” Barry said, a smug smile spreading across his face.

“Maybe,” Joe conceded, “You still have Cisco looking for him?”

“Yep,” Barry replied as he shutdown his computer, “I was just about to run over and see if he had anything."

“Let me know,” Joe said, getting up as Barry headed for the door, “I have to go brief the District Attorney. Looks like Snart gets a free pass this time.”

  *****Barry POV*****

Barry stood outside a slightly rundown looking pub on the outskirts of Central City. It had taken Cisco three days, using Felicity’s facial recognition program, to finally track Snart down. According to the camera outside the pub’s door, Snart had entered about an hour ago and had not left yet. Barry smiled slightly, thinking about the conversation to come and looked down at the folded up newspaper in his hand. He had been waiting for when he would get the chance to get one up on Leonard Snart and now that the time was here, he was going to enjoy it fully.

_“Oh yeah,”_ Barry thought smugly to himself, a huge grin splitting his face, _“I am so going to enjoy this.”_

On that thought, Barry opened the door and entered the pub, spotting the person he was looking for in the far back corner.

*****Snart POV*****

Leonard sat in the far back corner of an out of the way pub, wanting to be left alone and glaring at anyone that dared to come within five feet of him. To say he was in a bad mood was be an epic understatement. After he had left Mary at the hospital, he had gone back to the warehouse and began to clean up, intending to move on to one of his other hideouts in the morning. Four days later, he had been relaxing in one of the rundown apartments that he had kept up when Lisa had called to say that her and Mick were back in town and they had made arrangements to meet in the morning at a house where they commonly stayed on the other side of town.

When he had arrived that morning his day had gone in the proverbial toilet. He should have known that something was up when he had walked in to Lisa’s cackling laughter and Mick had turned to mockingly smirk at him.

“Well, well Lenny,” Lisa had drawled out, walking over to put an arm around her brother’s shoulders, “It looks like you were busy while we were gone.”

Lisa had a huge smile on her face, looking like a cat that had gotten the canary.

“You’re not turning _hero_ on us,” Mick sneered slightly, “Are you Snart?”

“What are you two clowns talking about,” Leonard drawled.

“Oh, just this,” Lisa answered, tossing a newspaper at him before walking away to perch lightly on the edge of the couch.

Leonard looked at the headline; clenching his jaw against a groan that almost worked it was out.

“You got a new girlfriend that I don’t know about?” Lisa asked, eyeing her brother like she had been handed the best gift in the world.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Leonard snapped, turning to walk away.

“Oh really!” Lisa said mockingly, rubbing her hands together and Leonard knew his day was officially shot.

The rest of the day went much the same way, even with his multiple warnings for Lisa to drop the subject. He should have known that she wouldn’t. His sister was like a cat with a mouse, she would play with it until it was dead. By five o’clock in the evening, what was dead was the precious little patience Leonard had. Finally he got sick of Lisa’s constant taunting and Mick’s silent laughter that he got up, grabbed his jacket, and stormed out.

_“If Mick and Lisa hadn’t decided to leave town on the same weekend,”_ he had thought as he got on his motorcycle, _“I would not have been forced to hire those two idiots and none of this would have ever happened!”_

Now here he sat, picking at the meal he had ordered and prayed that everyone within a ten mile radius would have the common sense to LEAVE HIM ALONE! Unfortunately that was not to be; as he looked up when the door to the pub opened he realized his night was going to get worse. For in walked none other than Barry Allen. Leonard sighed and leaned back, watching as the young hero made his way over. “Well you look happy,” Barry said as he sat down with a big smile on his face.

“Whatever you have to say, Allen,” Leonard snarled, “Say it quickly and leave!”

“Wanting to be alone are we?” Barry asked sarcastically, the smug smile never leaving his face.

“Well I am not here for the soggy fries and mediocre service,” Leonard quipped, “What do you want?”

“Just enjoying this moment,” Barry answered.

“And what moment would that be?” Leonard drawled, his look turning into a verifiable death glare as he could guess what the kid was about to say.

“The moment I get to say “I told you so,”” Barry answered, his smile growing ever bigger, “I told you there was good…”

Barry stopped when Leonard unholstered his cold gun, placing the barrel on the table pointed at him.

“Finish that sentence,” Leonard snarled lowly, “I dare you!”

“You know most people are happy when they get declared a hero and the District Attorney declines to prosecute,” Barry quipped, rising to his feet obviously deciding not to push his luck.

“I’m _no_ hero!” Leonard snapped his irritation overflowing.

“Well you may not think so,” Barry said, “But there is someone who thinks you are.”

He then tossed the newspaper he was hold down flat in front of Leonard before leaving.

Leonard looked down at the newspaper, seeing it was the same one that Lisa had taunted him with this morning, the front page headline reading

**Missing Security Guard Found, identifies Leonard Snart as rescuer.**

Leonard stared at the picture accompanying the headline. Mary sat in a hospital bad, her arm held in a black brace bound to her torso and surrounded by her smiling family. Leonard could not help the small smile that played across his face at the sight of his parka laid across her lap. Under the headline was a quote from Mary. It read:

_“I know many people will think it strange to hear Leonard Snart called a hero, but he saved my life. I don’t know if he will ever read this or if I will ever see him again. If I ever get the chance there is one thing I would like to say to him. I would like the chance to tell him Thank You.”_


	8. Chapter 8

*****Six Weeks Later*****

*****Mary POV*****

“Yes, I’m doing much better,” I reassured my mother over the phone as I walked down the hallway to the door of my small studio apartment, “Even though I still have a month of physical therapy to finish, the doctor has given me the ok to return to work.”

“Are you sure it’s not too early?” she asked, concern clear in her voice, “Maybe you should take it slow, go back part time while you finish up the therapy.”

“Mom, I am going stir crazy here,” I sighed with a smile, moving the parka that I kept finding myself carrying everywhere to my left arm, unlocked the door, and went inside, “My shoulder is doing fine. I need to get out of this apartment!”

“If you think you are ready,” she replied, still sounding hesitant, “Just be careful.”

“I will and I’ll see you at Christmas,” I replied turning to shut the door and turned on the light, “Love you too, bye.”

I hung up the phone with a shake of my head, as I pushed the door the rest of the way shut and turned the deadbolt to lock it.

“You’re welcome,” a familiar sarcastic voice suddenly came from behind me the minute the deadbolt slid into place.

I whipped around and found myself facing a man that I was sure I would never see again.

“Leonard,” I gasped, feeling my jaw literally drop out of shock and stood there staring at him sitting on the arm of my couch next to my sliding glass doors.

“You going to say anything or just stare?” he drawled out, shaking me from my shock.

“Ho… how did you get in here?” I asked numbly, vaguely gesturing toward the door as I knew it had been locked when I had entered.

“Really?” he asked, a smug smirk coming to his face as he lifted his hand and twirled some kind of tool between his fingers, “The locks on these older places are child’s play. You really should upgrade.”  

“I… I’ll remember that,” I said uncertainly as I dropped my purse in my recliner, “What are you doing here?”

“Read your _interview_ ,” he replied with a smirk, gesturing to a folded up newspaper on my end table, “Wanted to give you my response.”

“Oh,” I replied lamely. Leonard merely snorted and shook his head.

“I… I meant it,” I said in a rush, causing him to look back at me, “Thank you for what you did.”

Leonard just shook his head at me again, before he got up and turned toward the sliding glass doors as if to leave.

“Wait!” I called and walked quickly toward him.

Leonard turned back to look at me and I stopped within reach of him, holding out the parka that was still in my arms.

“You may want this back,” I said softly.

He stared at me intently for a moment, causing me to shift self-consciously, before he reached out and wrapped his long fingers around my left wrist instead of grabbing the parka.

“Keep it,” he replied softly, “As a reminder.”

“A reminder for what?” I asked just as softly, unable to tear my gaze away from his.

“For the next time you find trouble,” he answered, giving my arm a gentle pull, causing me to take a step closer as he bent his head until we were nose-to-nose, “To run _faster._ ”

I could not help the small laugh that escaped me as I ducked my head slightly.

“Because there may not always be a hero around to rescue me, right?” I responded, looking back up at him.

Leonard’s expression hardened as his hand tightened slightly around my wrist.

“I am no _hero,_ ” he said emphatically.

“That’s not true…” I tried to answer.

“I’m a criminal and a liar,” he cut me off abruptly, leaning down until we were face-to-face again, “I hurt people and I rob them. Don’t make me out to be something I’m not!”

I stared back at him, unable to believe his words; because there was something in his tone that made it sound like he was trying to convince someone other than me. Causing me to look sadly at him while shaking my head.

Leonard leaned away and scoffed, before turning as if to leave. Acting on impulse, I reached out with my right hand and grabbed the front of his shirt to stop him. He reached up and grabbed my hand, as if to remove it, but I clenched my fingers tightly in the fabric.

“It does not matter if others, including you, don’t believe you can be a hero,” I said in a firm voice, “You will always be one to me.”

Leonard stopped at my words and looked back at me, his brow pulled together in confusion, as if I were a puzzle he could not solve.

“After what you went through and knowing that I had a hand in it. You still insist on believing that there is good in me,” he said softly, “Why?”

I was taken aback by the look in his eyes. For the first time in what I would guess was years, Leonard dropped any pretense and I could see the real man he hid behind the cold façade. The one that actually cared and had a heart. A heart that seemed to be hurt and searching.

“Because everyone needs someone that believes the best in them, even if they cannot see it themselves.” I answered with a soft smile, “If there wasn’t good in you, you would have left me in that foundry.”

Leonard stared at me for another minute before he released my left wrist. He then unexpectedly lifted his hand and gently stroked his knuckles down my cheek once before nodding his head and giving me a slight smile in return. A real smile, not a sarcastic smirk.

He then turned and quietly left through the sliding doors. The last thing to release were our joined hands. I stood looking through the blinds and watched until his dark clothing made him blend into the night.

*****Snart POV*****

 Leonard stood and watched as Mary locked the door behind him. He watched until her shadow was no longer cast upon the blinds, her words still ringing in his ears.

_“Because everyone_ _needs someone that believes the best in them, even if they cannot see it themselves.”_

Those words had caused a feeling to rise within him, one he had not felt in years. A warmth that had settled in his chest and a want to show her that she was right. Leonard shook his head at his own wayward thoughts and feelings, and then turned to leave before a familiar voice stopped him.

“I wondered how long it would take you to come checkup on her,” it said and Leonard turned to face The Flash.

“Been following me again, _Barry,”_ Leonard replied, putting emphasis on his name as a reminder.

“Just heard you were back in town and knew it would be a matter of time,” the scarlet clad speedster responded.

“You’re wasting your time,” Leonard drawled, “I did not come to checkup on her, but to talk some sense into her. She is causing me trouble with her _hero_ talk.”

“Uh huh,” the hero responded with a disbelieving look on his face, “Did it work?”

Leonard just glared at him in response, as there was no way he was going to tell _anyone_ what was said between him and Mary.

“Ah well you know what they say about the life you save,” Barry said with a wide grin, “You could have just left her in the foundry if you wanted to avoid the trouble.”

“Yes and leave her to the CCPD’s infamous response times when it comes to the warehouse district,” Leonard snarled, “Someone worse would have found her first and all that would be left are pieces. You know that as well as I.”

The only response that his rant got was another wide grin from The Flash, causing Leonard to glare at him again before stalking off to the parking lot and his motorcycle.

*****The Flash POV*****

 Barry watched as Snart stalked off and could not help the wide grin that was plastered across his face.

_“Who knew it would only take one ordinary woman for Captain Cold to see the good in himself,”_ Barry thought, turning to look at said woman’s apartment, _“Who knows, maybe this will be a turning point for him.”_

Barry could not help one last chuckle before speeding off into the night.

 

 


End file.
